what happened to the village?

I have met quite a few mommies lately who are struggling to keep it together. We all want to be supermoms but some days my biggest accomplishment is just getting my kids in bed at the end of the day. The more I experience the frustration of feeling like I'm going it alone the more I realize that I can't be the only one who feels this way.

It's more complicated than just getting together with friends, though... logistically, it's hard to meet up with people when we all have kids who nap, and usually at different times. And then there are some of us who work outside the home, and some who work at home only. There's also the issue of distance... a lot of the people I want to hang out with live at least 15 minutes away from me, and that doesn't include the time (and extreme effort) that it takes to get everyone bundled up and in the car. I mean, this morning it took me and the kids 45 minutes from the time we started packing up until we were all actually in the car. By that time *I* was ready for a nap! It's so much easier to stay home... and therefore, to remain isolated.

Last night we had our awesome friends over for dinner and I realized how starved I have been for good company and solid friends (who live in the same state!). I wish I could be around good people all day long; it totally recharges my batteries and provides a great buffer for when I'm struggling with my kids. I mean, that's why people used to have such big families, right? Because family members lived close by and everyone pitched in. Now we stop at 2.5 kids because we can't possibly handle more than that on our own.

I have no problem admitting that I need help with my kids, even just day-to-day. How awesome would it be if our neighbors actually became a community of support for one another? That might be enough to make me consider having another kiddo... one day...